Another Kingdom
by Scalydawn
Summary: New teams and relationships form at Siren Academy in Atlas, but a dangerous threat looms over the continent. OC's. May change to M eventually.
1. Chapter 1

_A cold evening in Atlas, as always,_ thinks Lloyd as he attempts to shrug further into his grey, thick robe, the fur-lined garment offering some extra protection from the bitter winds, though his nose and ears are still pink from the cold. Lloyd doesn't wear any armor, metal is somewhat scarce outside of the large cities and it's desperately needed for fortifications and weapons. He doesn't really need any with his semblance either.

Lloyd tenses as he steps onto the ramp up to the airship that would shortly lift off to Siren Academy. Lloyd is still wary of the flying deathtraps, even though he had frequently flown to tournaments and significant events. Lloyd quickly assures himself that it's just nerves about the academy. His fingers brush the black bar on his belt as fleeting wave of ease washes through him; his comfort is quickly washed away as he gazes through the crowd.

_I don't know any of these people._

All of his friends had stayed home in his small village, most of them needed to help farm and, more importantly, defend the small settlement from Grimm. His father had assured Lloyd that he should follow his wishes and become a hunter. Lloyd wasn't so sure he was right any more.

"Welcome, future students of Siren."

Lloyd jumps as an unfamiliar voice booms through the ship; a hologram of a large man with a thick beard and greying black hair appears in front of the windows of the airship. Lloyd quickly recognizes the man as one of the more senior instructors at Siren, Professor Bettencourt. He was a very successful huntsman before deciding to retire to Siren.

"After arriving on campus, you will be escorted to a temporary housing facility for the night. Tomorrow, the tests shall begin," Bittencourt says with a hint of a smile, "I recommend you get to know your fellow students, you will be with them for the next four years."

Lloyd sighs at the thought of trying to get to know strangers. He was never great with people; he made most of his friends through constant interaction, whether that was reinforcing walls or working in the fields. Though he has a hard time making friends, he became very close to the friends he does make. He misses them.

"Hey, tall, pink, and lanky, I like your coat," exclaims a somewhat short, brown-haired girl. Almost immediately, Lloyd notices the purple cloak the girl is wearing and long instrument she has slung over her shoulder, but the girl's antlers really catch his attention. "What's your name?"

"Uh, I'm Lloyd Schneider," he says; the girl quickly adopts a curious expression; Lloyd braces for the ensuing barrage of questions that he instinctively knows is coming.

"I recognize that name! Why do I know your name? Wait, don't tell me," the girl practically yells frantically. "Are you the Mountain Jacks cereal mascot? No, no that can't be it. Did you sell snowballs on Tenth Street?" The girl just keeps on babbling, "I have it! You lost in the Atlas regional tournament finals! Twice!" _There it is._

"Yep, that's me. The guy who fails," Lloyd says, not making eye contact.

"Um, you didn't fail, you got second. Don't you think that's better than losing your first match?" She asks, concern and confusion evident in her voice.

"Sure," comes the curt reply, though Lloyd's eyes tell a different story. "I never caught your name."

"I'm Rozanne Sund," she says with a wide smile, "I really thought you fought well in those tournaments, you had your opponents scrambling during both fights. I like your sword."

Lloyd looks to her, "Thanks, I've had Eisen since I was barely big enough to hold it. Is that stringed thing your weapon?"

Rozanne smiles a truly manic smile as she exclaims, "Slagge is a mandolin that separates into a hammer and a shield!" She pulls the black instrument off her back and quickly separates it as the body unfolds into an impressive tower shield and the strings retract. "I can use Dust and sound to manipulate my surroundings and to fight! I can move and divert objects and even people if I concentrate hard enough."

Lloyd grins, he has always loved talking about weapons and abilities. "That sounds pretty cool! Did you ever fight in the tournament circuits?"

"No, but I always loved going to the tournaments with my brothers! Plus, back at Torch Academy, I got plenty of practice fighting and using my abilities," she cracks a wide grin.

"Attention students, we have arrived. Welcome to Siren Academy!" A voice, presumably the pilot's, echoes through the airship.

Lloyd's smile dies as he remembers his fear and uncertainty. Rozanne flashes a grin at him as the doors open and the exit ramps begin to retract.

_No going back now.  
_

* * *

**Notes:**

Thank you for reading my first story! I would love some feedback on pretty much everything. I have several chapters already written, but the entire story is pretty much a work in progress.


	2. Chapter 2: The Gambler

"I win again! Now, give me your money!" Lierre exclaims. The dark-skinned girl can obviously get a little carried away with gambling and games of chance.

"Lierre, we didn't even bet any money," Chump number one states with a confused tone. The other chump doesn't even say anything; she just looks pissed that she lost another round. Lierre's expression changes from excitement to disappointment in a heartbeat once she hears that she won't be receiving any winnings from her glorious victory. She opens her mouth to argue her non-existent case, but stops before she can even say anything.

_I don't even remember the names of these two._ Lierre begins to panic ever so slightly as she realizes her mouth is still wide open. She quickly rises to get away from the two nameless individuals. "I suppose I'll take my leave if that's the case, gotta get some sleep. I might see you again…" She states simply while looking expectantly at the two.

"Lierre, that's like the fifth time you've asked our names," Lloyd says with an edge of annoyance. The girl looks like she is about to explode when she learns that Lierre still can't remember either of the duo's names.

"I'm Rozanne! You better remember it, for it shall someday be the name that will bring your terrible game-playing regime to the ground!" The girl, Rozanne, rants. She seems to have a flare for the dramatic; that explains the big-ass instrument, then.

"Whatever, have fun doing whatever it is you do; I'm getting some sleep before our trials tomorrow," Lierre says as she walks away from the crazy twosome. Her armor clanks and jingles as she tries to find a suitable spot to lay her sleeping bag. After a few minutes, she manages to find a free spot in the ballroom.

Lierre begins to methodically remove her armor and her two swords; the scale and chain shirts don't take long but her boots and gloves take a bit longer to unclasp and store away. She feels somewhat relieved once she puts on her pajamas; armor wasn't really the most comfortable thing to wear. All of her gear packs away very easily, but she hesitates once she sees her swords. _Maybe I can just keep them with me overnight this once._

The lights soon go out and the chatter dies down after everyone says their 'goodnights' and 'see you tomorrows.' Try as she might, though, she can't sleep; almost all of the people she knew stayed in Vacuo, she feels alone in a strange, cold-ass land. She misses them, she misses her father. Most of all, however, she misses her mother. _Maybe that's why I can't just pack up my swords._

She doesn't really know any of these people around her, and everyone she's met so far seems to be a total buffoon. _I should probably give those two dorks a second chance; for all I know, I could end up on a team with them. I really hope that doesn't happen._ Lloyd wasn't really that bad, but that was mostly because he didn't talk. Rozanne, however, couldn't shut up about music, weapons, family, and pretty much anything that came across her mind. She had tried to get Lierre to talk about her weapons, but that was precious information she isn't inclined to share yet.

She quickly decides to perform maintenance on her weapons after thinking about them for a moment. The two swords aren't really in need of maintenance, but it's better than just lying in bed not sleeping. She quickly sets up a dim light and removes the weapons from their sheathes. Grace is a long scimitar, but Lierre quickly changes it into its rifle form; Grace also doubles as a long-range bolt-action rifle. She is soon finished cleaning and oiling the rifle and its parts so she moves on to Fury. Her other sword is a shorter, straighter sabre that rearranges into a lever-action rifle.

_That didn't take nearly long enough,_ Lierre thinks as she resigns herself to a long, restless night.


	3. Chapter 3: True Tests

"I would like to personally welcome all of you to Siren Academy!" Professor Bettencourt announces to the auditorium full of incoming students. "Headmaster Ironwood was supposed to give a rousing speech, but he seems to have very important business to attend to."

_Man, this guy sounds pretty peeved that he has to give this speech,_ thinks Yasmin as the professor continues to speak to the still-groggy students.

"Those of you in this room are some of the best and brightest from all over remnant, but you are still children; you are not hunters or huntresses," Bettencourt explains as he takes a presumably-dramatic pause. "That is why I and the other illustrious professors of Siren Academy are here, to forge you into the next generation of elite defenders. Some of you will be able to graduate as hunters or huntresses; others won't even remain in the academy at this time tomorrow.

"Today, the true tests begin. We will begin by pairing you up into sparring partners; however, your partner for your first University sparring session may not be your partner for the rest of your time at Siren. Teams and partners will be determined by a separate test later today. The sparring is so that you may cut your teeth against peers of your caliber."

_Ooh, sounds fun!_ Yasmin feels herself smile as she considers the prospects of fighting someone who actually knows what they're doing. _Hopefully my partner will actually be someone competent; wouldn't want the fight to be boring._

"Matches, along with the arena number, will be announced shortly. Those who aren't participating are free to watch the other matches or explore our campus; I hear the café is serving blueberry muffins and waffles today for breakfast!" Exclaims the middle-aged professor; he seems legitimately excited at the thought of a hot breakfast.

"A message will be sent to your scroll and you will have a ten minute window to report to your designated arena before you are disqualified, so don't be afraid to wander too far; however, if you fail to report to your match you will be expelled from the academy.

"You are all dismissed; the first matches should be announced in a few minutes," announces the professor as students file out of the auditorium into the atrium of the main sparring complex. Yasmin mindlessly follows the crowd as she attempts to find some good music to blast through her headphones before her match.

She notices a few upperclassmen leaving the building as they realize that the sparring rooms will be occupied for quite some time; others stand by and greet the new students as they walk by. None of them really catch her eye, so she sits down at a table with a sigh to wait for the first round of matches to be announced.

Almost immediately, the screens hanging above each arena light up with the faces and names of the competitors. Yasmin runs over to each of the screens, her hand brushing the hilt of the small sword at her hip. Unfortunately, she isn't part of the first round of the competitors.

_Awesome, looks like I'll be here for a while,_ Yasmin thinks as she runs a hand through her short, white hair. She puts her headphones on and reclaims her seat as she braces for the agonizing wait.

* * *

"I hate this stupid waiting! Why can't we just have a giant brawl in one of the big arenas, it'd be so much fun!" Rozanne practically yells to her still-new friend, Lloyd.

"Calm down, Rozanne! It's only been five minutes and the first match is already done; you could be the next one in the ring," Lloyd states simply with a bit of a scowl on his face. _It's way too early for yelling,_ he thinks. The first match hadn't been very entertaining; a blonde boy got his butt beat by a guy who was using a shortsword and a really big shield. The shield-boy really knew how to exploit the other competitor's inexperience at fighting a highly defensive opponent. It wasn't pretty.

"I don't care, I want to do something other than watch other people fight! Let's go get some food at the café," Rozanne exclaimed. She really seems to get bored easily.

Before the duo can leave, however, the new match appears on the screen above arena four. Lloyd receives a text almost simultaneously stating that he is to report to arena four to spar with some girl named Yasmin.

"Ooh look, Lloyd! You're up on screen! Let's go so you can kick some butt!" Rozanne screams as she sprints toward arena four with Lloyd hanging onto her arm like his life depended on it.

* * *

As Lloyd enters the arena, he becomes very aware of the large crowd in the stands; it's just like a tournament match. No pressure.

Opposite him, a girl with snow-white hair walks in. She's unarmored and only armed with a small, curved sword on her hip.

_Weird, I've never seen a sword like that; I've also never seen someone fight using a weapon that short without a shield._ Worrisome, Lloyd thinks as he begins his pre-match stretches. He pulls the bar at his hip from its loop and presses his thumb hard against the middle of the object.

The bar quickly extends and unfolds in both directions; a long blade extends upwards as two small hooks jut out just above Lloyd's hand. A large cruciform hilt unfolds downwards; after completing the transformation the sword could almost reach Lloyd's chin. He gives the large sword a few experimental swings. "Good morning, Eisen," he mutters as he rests the blade on his shoulder.

Yasmin, however, is just standing watching the scene literally unfold in front of her; she quickly pulls out her sword and gives it a quick couple of swings.

"Fighters, are you ready?" A young woman, a teacher or helpful upperclassman, calls out to the two contestants below her. Both Lloyd and Yasmin look to the woman and nod. "Then let the fight begin!"

Almost immediately, Yasmin flips her sword and pulls a trigger; Lloyd quickly spins his sword in front of him to block the red-hot shot. Just as the smoke envelops him, he hears another shot followed by a short explosion.

_Dust, time to guess,_ he thinks as he takes a knee and raises his blade up to block a downward strike. Sure enough, he feels and hears blade meet blade; he quickly tilts Eisen to smack Yasmin with the hilt of the blade. Lloyd sees Yasmin tumble to his left as he quickly raises Eisen's hilt to the side of his head with the blade pointed straight at the recovering girl.

"And Lloyd has first strike!"

Yasmin, however, quickly gets back up and renews her assault. Lloyd thrusts his sword forward but just meets air; he quickly activates his semblance as he notices a certain curved sword flying at his throat. The left side of Lloyd's neck shines as the strike harmlessly bounces off; Lloyd takes the opening and slams his shoulder into Yasmin's chest. He quickly backs off and assumes a different stance.

"Dust dammit! That hurt!" Yasmin says under her breath as she shakes her sword hand. Lloyd rapidly closes and slams blade down, again, into thin air. He hears a crack just before he's engulfed in smoke and he starts flying. He looks up to see Yasmin press something on her sword. The sword quickly unfolds and extends into a massive blade, easily a few inches taller than the girl herself; the sword is still drastically curved forward, but the hilt is much longer and the blade extended as well.

Lloyd quickly gets up once he sees the girl closing in. She moves in for a merciless horizontal strike to Lloyd's left that he can barely guard against. The moment her sword impacts his, he feels a searing pain on his left shoulder and he is thrown to his left; he's just able to see a red glow where he once stood before it disappears and Yasmin rushes him again.

Lloyd shifts his grip so that he is grasping the blade with both hands and he spins on the ground and swings the hilt at Yasmin's legs. Yasmin is pulled down as she's hooked by the crossguard; Lloyd quickly regains his footing and thrusts at her chest.

Yasmin rolls away and rises to her feet. Both combatants stare each other down as they realize this fight isn't going to be as easy as either thought.

Lloyd is the first to break the temporary ceasefire as he strikes diagonally at Yasmin's left shoulder; she quickly parries and makes for a riposte. Lloyd easily redirects the strike and swings his blade down, though his efforts bare no fruit. They continue fighting like this for several minutes.

Strike, dodge; swing riposte. The audience may see a vicious and deadly slugging match, but to the combatants, it's almost like a dance; a very deadly dance where a misstep means defeat, but a dance nonetheless. They both land minor blows to the hands or forearms, but never anything more than a glancing strike. Lloyd had never had an opportunity to fight someone with a weapon such as Yasmin's, but it is rather refreshing.

A misstep. Lloyd is rapidly giving ground as Yasmin begins to attack with a dangerous ferocity. On one barely successful block, however, he feels that searing pain again, this time in the back of his knee. He falls to one knee and begins to panic; Yasmin is rearing for another overhead strike, one against which he probably won't be able to defend. He makes the hasty decision to tackle the woman in front of him.

They both roll to the ground and Lloyd quickly disentangles himself and jumps to his feet and slams his sword down to where Yasmin is lying. She brings her blade up and blocks the devastating blow; she quickly rolls to her feet and renews her assault.

With each block Lloyd makes, he feels a strike on the opposite side of him; it rapidly takes his toll and he loses focus as his Aura is depleted.

After a particularly hard hit sent him spinning, he turns around to see a rather large blade flying straight for the side of his face. He rapidly concentrates to activate his semblance.

_This is going to suck, a lot,_ Lloyd thinks as the world goes black.

* * *

**Notes:**

Combat! Tell me what you thought of the combat; I'm mostly worried about description, so if something is unclear, please tell me. Tell me what you think of the character designs as well; I have character descriptions written up, but I'd like to leave some of it to the imagination.

This story is also on Archive of Our Own, and it will probably be updated earlier on that site.


	4. Chapter 4: Screaming Match

_Ouch, that looked like it hurt,_ Rozanne cringed as she saw Lloyd fall to the ground after Yasmin hit him with that giant blade. She jumps from her seat and vaults over the railing to see if Lloyd is even alive, not caring that she might not be allowed in the arena.

"That's the match! Yasmin wins!" The administrator announces; she presses a button on the pseudo-podium behind which she stands. Stairs immediately push out of the wall under the railing; a small gate opens to allow passage down into the battleground. The announcer quickly descends the stairs, "One of you should take this young man to the infirmary," the announcer firmly states, pointing at Yasmin and Rozanne.

Rozanne picks up the still-unconscious Lloyd and throws him onto her shoulder. She marches toward the exit until she hears footsteps behind her and feels a tug at her cloak.

"Yo, let me go with you; it's kind of my fault that he's out cold," Yasmin says, slowing her pace to match the shorter girl's speed. "I'm kind of surprised he's not missing half of his head; he must have some aura, huh?"

Rozanne glances at the pale-yellow clad girl, "Yeah, I think he's used to getting hit; he fought in the Atlas regional tournaments for several years. That was a nice fight by the way; I like your sword-thingy." Yasmin looks surprised when she hears that Lloyd is a career fighter.

"Thanks, I'm not really used to fighting people; Grimm are more my style," Yasmin states with a shrug. "Sorry for knocking out your friend; have you known each other long?"

"Nope," Rozanne says with a pop. The two push through the double doors leading to campus. As they head outside, they are met by a cold wind and a light dusting of snow. _It's always snowing in this damn country._

"Oh, you guys seem pretty close for recent friends," Yasmin says questioningly.

"We met on the airship that brought us here," Rozanne states simply. "He's a pretty cool guy, if you can actually get him to talk. You should stay at the infirmary so you can actually meet him; I think he'd like to know the person who beat his ass with a giant sword, that's usually his thing.

"Where are you from? You said that you're mainly used to fighting Grimm, so I know you're not from an academy," Rozanne questions the white-haired girl.

"I'm from the outskirts of Atlas; it's mostly safe, but my father is a sheriff so I've learned how to fight from him and a couple of his friends," Yasmin shrugs. "He went to Siren Academy to become a hunter, but he thought he could do more good protecting a community than running around everywhere. What about you, where are you from?"

"I grew up in Atlas proper; I went to Torch Academy before coming here," Rozanne states. "Let's hurry up and get to the infirmary; I'm not a fan of the idea of getting stuck in a blizzard."

The two quicken their pace to the infirmary, only to remember that they have no idea where the infirmary is. They walk around looking for a directory until Rozanne receives a message on her scroll. Her match is in arena 7 against Lierre Kartal.

"Oh, I am going to destroy her!" Rozanne yells as she drops Lloyd to the ground and begins running back to the stadium. She stops and looks back, "Could you take care of Sleepy over there? Thanks, bye!"

Yasmin simply stands in place for several seconds as she attempts to process what just happened.

* * *

Rozanne bursts through the doors of the arena, eager to finally bring green-clad oppressor to justice. _Maybe I'm taking the whole 'tyrant' thing a bit too far,_ she thinks, frowning.

She glances around the arena and notices her opponent sitting peacefully, her eyes lightly shut. The girl doesn't even acknowledge Rozanne's loud entrance, she simply continues to meditate.

Rozanne frowns slightly as she grabs Slagge and releases it from its strap; she sits lazily against the wall with Slagge partially resting in her lap. She gives the instrument several loving plucks before adjusting the strings. She promptly begins to play and loses herself in her own music.

"Are the competitors ready to begin?" A nervous voice breaks Rozanne from her trance. She takes a long glance around the arena and sees the voice emanating from a scraggly ruddy-haired boy at the podium; she extends her right hand towards the boy and throws him a thumbs-up. She then turns her eyes towards to her opponent; Lierre is standing now, right hand on her longer blade.

"Ready, sir," Rozanne's competitor shouts at the announcer. Rozanne notices Lierre's grip on her blade tighten slightly as she calls out. The announcer's hands fly to the console in front of him and a screen lights up with a count-down.

5

4

3

2

As the timer strikes one, Rozanne activates her semblance. She notices just how **loud** the stadium is; there are students behind her murmuring and some even shouting as the match readies, the screen constantly lets out a quiet buzz, and the whole stadium sucks in a short breath as the screen flashes 'Fight.'

She can't hear all of these things, but she can sure feel most of them; she rapidly struggles to organize all of the new information even as she begins to pluck her instrument. She feels the sound exit the instrument, but she pulls it into a tight orbit around her as she notices Lierre drop to one knee with her now-transformed rifle.

A shot rings out.

Rozanne can feel the bullet as it reaches the maelstrom of sound around her and she forces the bullet just barely off of its intended course; she moves her head slightly to the left as the bullet impacts the wall behind where she was just holding her head. She feels another bullet sailing towards her and rolls away; she quickly jumps to her feet and swaggers towards her green-covered opposition, all while plucking at her instrument.

She easily redirects and dodges Lierre's final shots in her long-rifle; Lierre unsheathes her other blade and rapidly closes the distance between herself and her charge. Let's go offense, let's go, Rozanne thinks with a smug smirk on her face. She blasts several waves of sound at the deadly dual-wielder; Lierre's expression shifts from determination to surprise as the faint ripple in the air impacts her. Lierre barely has enough time to assume a suitable stance and the first impact throws her off-balance, the next two waves easily knock the girl off her feet.

Rozanne presses her advantage and rushes towards Lierre while she separates Slagge into hammer and shield. Lierre regains her footing just in time to see a discomfortingly-large hammer barreling towards her. As Rozanne's hammer makes impact, the Faunus girl notices something very wrong with the outcome.

The hammer struck the ground.

Lierre is gone. She didn't roll away; she's just not where she was. Confusion spreads throughout Rozanne's face just as she sent stumbling forward by a slash to the back. She turns mid-stumble and makes a valiant attempt to raise her shield, but she's not quick enough and Lierre punishes with a quick jab with her shorter sword.

Rozanne is forced onto her back, now at the mercy of the dual-wielder; Lierre wastes no time in taking advantage of the situation and begins a heavy downward thrust with her left-hand sword. Rozanne, noticing the heavily-telegraphed strike, slams her shield upwards and brings it, along with Lierre's sword, down to the ground; she launches a vicious kick to Lierre's midsection and scrambles to her feet.

Lierre lands on her feet and sheathes Grace; Fury rapidly changes into rifle form and Lierre begins to unload the magazine straight at Rozanne.

_She's a pretty damn good shot, I'll give her that,_ thinks Rozanne as bullets rapidly impact her now-raised shield. The hail of gunfire soon stops and Rozanne peeks over her shield to see nothing but empty arena.

Too late, Rozanne turns around and she is soon met with a slash to her left side. Lierre launches several strikes, only to disappear and reappear behind Rozanne. Rozanne can barely keep up with the teleporting girl, but she soon picks up on a pattern, a rhythm.

Lierre strikes in a predictable fashion: she strikes and then always teleports behind Rozanne to repeat her onslaught. Rozanne knows that both of her opponent's weapons are out of ammunition; reloading is a risk the armored girl is obviously unwilling to take.

Lierre thrusts with her off-hand sword and teleports, but Rozanne is ready; Rozanne spins to her right and slams her shield into the shoulder of her competitor, sending the girl reeling. Rozanne swings her hammer and manages to land another hit, launching Lierre straight into the ground.

"That is enough! Ms. Kartal's aura has gone into the red; the match goes to Rozanne Sund," the announcer booms with newly-surfaced authority. Rozanne reconnects Slagge and rests it on her shoulder.

"Need a hand?" Rozanne asks, extending a helping hand to Lierre.

"Give me a minute," Lierre pants. "I kind of just want to lie down here for a while." The girl does just that, but she soon accepts Rozanne's hand and sheathes her weapons, "You don't pull punches do you?"

"Nope!" Rozanne exclaims with a pop. The two girls share a smirk and head towards the exit.

* * *

All Lloyd sees are pies for miles. He can see cherry, blueberry, raspberry, and any other pie he could ever possibly imagine. The road he's standing on, mouth agape, is even made of pie, the sides of the road adorned with whipped cream.

Lloyd runs down the road sampling the pecan pie trees, devouring the apple pie flowers. _Oh dust, these are better than my own pies. I need to ask someone for these recipes!_

As Lloyd practically prances down the road, he notices a castle coming into view in the distance. The castle, of course, appears to be made of a variety of different pies. Lloyd unleashes a mighty 'squee' and increases his pace towards the castle.

As he arrives he sees pastry guardsman wielding what appeared to be candy canes topped with ice cream cones.

"Halt! Only the queen can grant permission to enter the castle!" A giant croissant exclaims, pointing his spear as menacingly as a croissant holding a candy spear can.

"Wait! Let him in; he has to be the mysterious stranger the queen described!" A cupcake standing atop the battlements yelled. The croissant-guard hesitates for a moment, but grudgingly lowers the spear.

"You may pass."

Lloyd is escorted into what appears to be a library made of gorgeous white chocolate. Lloyd struggles to keep his mouth from watering.

"Is this the man? The one who seemingly appeared outside our gates from thin air?" A square of tiramisu walking towards Lloyd questions.

"Yes, my queen! He just walked up to the gates a moment ago," the croissant guard says. "But I don't trust him, I've never seen anything that looked like him," the guard whispers to the queen conspiratorially.

The queen brushes off the guard's paranoia. "You look exactly as I imagined. You must help us!" The queen says to Lloyd. "A monstrous creature has terrorized us for months! It flies in and devours our guardsmen, no matter how we attempt to fend it off!

"It resides to the north of our castle, but do not have the pastry-power to launch a raid ourselves. Please help us!" The queen exclaims, practically pushing Lloyd towards the door.

"Of course I'll fight this monster, my queen!" Lloyd affirms unquestioningly. This all makes perfect sense to him. These people needed his help, who was he to deny them?

Lloyd sprinted out of the castle and began his trek north.

The trek is more like a short stroll, he realizes as he reaches the cavern. Lloyd enters the cave free of hesitation.

Lloyd soon hears a low growling and he extends Eisen to its full length. As he enters a massive filled to the brim with golden foil-wrapped chocolate coins, he notices a massive winged beast made of chocolate cake.

The beast unleashes an unholy roar and it spews molten chocolate at Lloyd, which he deftly avoids. The beast swipes at Lloyd with a massive chocolate claw, but Lloyd is much too quick for the sluggish beast.

Lloyd brings his mighty blade down on the leg of the beast as it attempts to smash him. The blade cuts through the cake as only a massive knife could. The beast loses its balance and falls to its belly.

Lloyd rushes towards the beast's head with a mighty roar. He leaps and stabs the full length of Eisen into the sugary skull of the beast, chocolate frosting spewing from the mortal wound. The beast collapses in earnest, and Lloyd sits to bask in his glorious victory.

_That was rather anti-climactic,_ Lloyd frowns, disappointed. He quickly regains his previous chipper attitude, however, as he sees the cake sprawled out before him, just begging to be devoured.

Before he can begin, he hears a rather obnoxious beeping. Whatever could that be?

* * *

Lloyd bolts upright in the hospital bed he is currently on. He frantically searches the room attempting to discern where he may be.

The memories from the fight flood back to him; he remembers getting hit on the head and nothing after that.

_Yasmin must have knocked me out,_ Lloyd looks around, slightly disappointed.

_Man, that was a really nice dream._

* * *

**Notes:**

Thanks again for reading!

Tell me what you think!


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